


Two

by SarcasticGayPotato



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Android GLaDOS, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Post-Portal 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 20:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarcasticGayPotato/pseuds/SarcasticGayPotato
Summary: Chell was never certain that GLaDOS had deleted Caroline like she claimed to, but she never had reason to question it either.Not until now.
Relationships: Caroline/Chell (Portal), Chell/GLaDOS
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	Two

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic about a year ago and never posted it- so I thought I'd share now that I've rediscovered it!

Chell was never certain that GLaDOS had done what she said she had, all those years ago- 

**_“Caroline deleted”_ **

\- but she had no reason to outwardly question it, knowing the topic was such a sore one. Chell accepted the fact that GLaDOS would always be difficult to predict; that she would be capable of softness one moment only to seem appalled by it the next. GLaDOS was a machine, after all, an AI. She worked in ways that humans did not, and Chell had been prepared for her unpredictability to be the price to pay for a relatively safe place to sleep at night. 

_Had_ been. 

Things changed as Chell got closer. As she fostered a soft spot in her heart for her homicidal companion, moving past the bulletproof walls that GLaDOS shielded herself with. Chell wasn’t kept at arm’s length anymore; she was allowed into GLaDOS’s chamber, to be present, to watch her... _friend_ at work. 

The first sign she got of something being different was in the way that GLaDOS moved. 

Serpentine and as fluid as propulsion gel, GLaDOS made a several-ton metal body seem as light as a crow’s feather. She moved with all the grace of someone who had been made for this body- born into it, lived in it, _died_ in it. 

So that made it all the more remarkable whenever GLaDOS seemed unusually stiff. 

Chell patted the metal casing of the chassis in a friendly little ‘hello’ as they had grown so accustomed to, but rather than being ignored, GLaDOS tensed and shuddered before turning to look at her. Chell waited for some comment about her ‘grubby human paws’ getting grease on GLaDOS’s well-kept mainframe, but no such remark came. GLaDOS’s golden optic simply squinted at her, as if studying her, before turning back to work. 

A few minutes later, GLaDOS spoke like nothing had happened, but Chell couldn’t miss the hint of annoyance in her voice- akin to someone who had just walked away from an unfinished argument and hadn’t completely cooled off. 

Chell could ignore the little changes, could attribute it to a temperamental computer being temperamental, but she couldn’t chase the nagging little question that tugged at her mind whenever GLaDOS was acting more strange than usual. When she didn’t sway back and forth when she worked, hanging oddly still, only moving her body in short bursts, as if she had forgotten how. 

Chell brought it up once, signing a question up towards that golden optic. 

‘ _What’s gotten into you?_ ’ 

The chassis' massive head lowered itself to Chell’s level, bumping up against her in that affectionate little way that she only did when she was in an unnaturally good mood. 

“Nothing _new_.” 

That response stuck with Chell. So casual- _too_ casual, for GLaDOS- so matter of fact, as if Chell had been asking a stupid question. ...On second thought, that _was_ very GLaDOS-like. But Chell still couldn’t shake the feeling that something hadn’t been right. 

It only clicked weeks later; when Chell stumbled into the central chamber- hearing the announcement of a _core transfer_ and running as fast as her metallically enhanced knees would allow her- and found GLaDOS’s massive form hanging limp in the center of the room, unmoving. 

And standing next to that form? 

Was a woman. 

“Come now, close your mouth, you look stupid.” 

GLaDOS had made herself a new body to _play_ in- one she didn’t hesitate to brag about in her usual way- but she moved differently here. She stretched her legs and moved her arms like she had always lived like this. 

When Chell approached, snow-white hands reached out and cupped her face, splaying out long, slender fingers for no other reason than just to feel. 

Chell had kissed GLaDOS before- on the side of her head, next to her optic, on one of her metallic claws. GLaDOS had never admitted to liking it, but she never stopped it either. 

Chell wasn’t kissing GLaDOS now. 

This was much too smooth, too natural. Lips that tasted of new plastic and metal were too warm against her own, too _hungry_ for something that an AI surely wouldn’t have been craving. 

Chell pulled back, her lips tingling. 

‘ _Caroline._ ’ 

She mouthed the word cautiously- that name hadn’t been uttered in these walls since GLaDOS bid her farewell- waiting to watch those golden eyes narrow, and to hear that robotic voice chastise her for speaking of ghosts. 

Painted-black lips twitched into a smile. A knowing little smile, a _mischievous_ one. 

Chell blinked, and it was gone. Replaced with a scowl that, despite GLaDOS not having the capability to do so until now, seemed infinitely more at home on that constructed metal face. 

“Oh... I _hate_ her.” 

And that was how Chell discovered that she was dating two people. 


End file.
